Leicester City’s assault on the top of the Championship shows no signs of slowing down despite a brief wobble a couple of months ago, with all areas of their squad stepping up to make sure they increase the points gap on second placed Ipswich Town in recent weeks.
Lesser spotted players such as Tom Cannon are now starting to fire in the goals, but with a handful of players away at the Asian Cup and African Cup of Nations for the next month, head coach Enzo Maresca will have to utilise all the depth he can to get around the individuals who won’t be available.
One of those was set to be Wilfred Ndidi, who was called up by Nigeria to add to his 53 caps that he has already won, and he’s also been key in Leicester’s midfield this season with two goals and five assists in a more advanced role than usual.
However, the 27-year-old, who is out of contract with the Foxes at the end of the season, has suffered a muscle injury on the eve of AFCON and will be ruled out for around three months, which leaves Maresca light in the engine room.
It was reported on Tuesday though that City had a plan to rectify that issue and it involved Inter Milan midfielder Stefano Sensi, with Italian reporter Gianluca Di Marzio claiming that Maresca had made a move for the 28-year-old.
Inter Milan midfielder starting to become more convinced on making Leicester transfer
Reports suggested that Leicester were trying to convince Sensi – who has been capped nine times for Italy’s national side since 2018 – to make the move to the King Power Stadium, and it looks as though they might be successful.
According to a report from Gazzetta dello Sport, via Sport Witness, Sensi is edging closer towards moving to England and helping Leicester to get over the line and back into the Premier League rather than staying on the fringes of the Inter Milan first-team.
Sensi is said to be convinced of playing under Maresca at Leicester and the prospect of getting game-time in the Premier League next season means that it is very likely he will soon be unveiled as a Foxes player.
| Stefano Sensi’s Monza Serie A Stats 2022-23 Season | ||
| Appearances | 28 | |
| Average Minutes Per Game | 58 | |
| Goals | 3 | |
| Assists | 1 | |
| Shots Per Game | 0.6 | |
| Touches Per Game | 54.6 | |
| Pass Accuracy | 87% | |
| Key Passes Per Game | 0.9 | |
| Interceptions Per Game | 0.7 | |
| Tackles Per Game | 1.5 | |
| Successful Dribbles Per Game | 0.4 | |
| Duels Won Per Game | 3.9 | |
| Possession Lost Per Game | 8.9 | |
| Stats As Of January 10, 2024 – As Per Sofascore | ||
And with his contract expiring at the end of the season, it likely won’t take a massive fee to bring Sensi from Milan, and he will be desperate for game-time having only made three cameo substitute appearances off the bench in Serie A this season, although he played more regularly on loan for Monza in 2022-23.
Sensi could be the perfect Ndidi replacement for Leicester
A pretty versatile midfielder who can play as a holder, a box-to-box man or a number 10, Sensi would provide a lot of cover in all areas of the engine room for Maresca.
You’d imagine though that he’s coming to start games of football at Leicester and not just sit on the bench should the transfer go through though – Sensi is theoretically in his peak years at the age of 28 and he has international experience for Italy.
And with Dennis Praet probably departing the club as well this month, it makes the need for another midfielder even greater – someone who can slot in next to Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall in that advanced midfielder role that Ndidi was not used to before this season, but he has adapted to it.
Sensi is a more natural fit though and if Leicester can get him for a couple of million pounds, then they will have done really well to do so.
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